Social Work Personal Statement Example 20

I believe that everyone deserves to have a good quality of life and to have their fundamental human needs met; but my personal and professional experience has exposed me to the numerous barriers vulnerable people face to achieving this.

I see Social Work as an opportunity to improve the lives of society’s most vulnerable by upholding their rights, protecting them from harm and by taking a holistic, person centred approach in helping them to build meaningful lives for themselves. Social Work is a field that suits my strengths, interests and professional approach to working; as well as one that affords the opportunity for continuous personal growth and development.

I have extensive personal, paid and voluntary experience of supporting others with their health and social care needs. I currently work as an NHS Peer Support Worker. I am part of a community based, multidisciplinary team that provides intensive, specialist support to young people who have experienced psychosis. My role involves using my own lived experience of mental ill health and recovery to support patients on their own journeys. I work directly with nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, peers, psychologists and psychiatrists. I have taken the opportunity to shadow colleagues so that I can observe and learn from their work. This has given me an excellent insight into the roles of the various professions that work to support service users.

I am a passionate advocate for the Recovery model in my work and am part of various steering groups across my NHS trust that seek to further recovery focused, strengths based care. I am a creative, flexible thinker who enjoys problem solving and believes in the value of reflective practise. As a Peer Worker, my role involves working alongside my clients in a collaborative relationship that is directed by them. I feel that it is important to consider the whole person - including their strengths, aspirations and values - when assessing their needs.

I particularly enjoy working with clients who display challenging behaviour; as in my experience this is usually a manifestation of unmet or unidentified needs. This can be an opportunity to make a profound difference in somebody's life by working creatively and flexibly to help them obtain the tools that they need to live more fulfilling lives. As well as personal and professional experience, I also have a good level of academic ability. At GCSE, I achieved excellent results. I did not progress in my education at the time despite my love of learning. I was diagnosed with and successfully treated for ADHD later in my life, and I understand now how this affected my ability to access opportunity.

This is another reason I am passionate about inclusion and addressing barriers to attainment. I am currently studying a course of Higher Education which shows my ability to work at the level required of me at university. I am an enthusiastic, avid reader and as part of my role, I am often required to research, understand and summarise evidence. I am capable of writing in an academic style and understand how to reference appropriately. I have written resources for professionals and patients; and designed and delivered training sessions on recovery focused working. I have been trained in a number of skills that are relevant to health and social care including Motivational Interviewing, ACT, Working with autistic people, Risk Assessment, Safeguarding and Working with Psychosis. I can also submit a portfolio of written work to support my application if required.